Updates to the property pane, UDAs, and to the Property pane editor

Tekla Structures
2019i
Tekla Structures

Updates to the property pane, UDAs, and to the Property pane editor

Tekla Structures 2019i introduces improvements in the property pane and the Property pane editor. With these updates, especially the viewing and modifying of user-defined attributes (UDAs) is now easier and more straightforward.

New options to control the visibility of properties and user-defined attributes in the property pane

You can now control which properties are shown in the property pane without customizing the property pane layout.

Click the Visibility button to open a drop-down menu in the property pane. When you open the property pane for the first time without any customizations in firm, project, or environment folders, the Show properties based on visibility settings option is selected by default.

Expand all or Collapse all

Use to expand or collapse all the property groups.

Show properties that have a value

Select to show only those properties that have a value. This is useful especially with user-defined attributes (UDAs). UDAs that have a value are always shown, even if they have not been added to the property pane layout. This means that you can view and modify the UDA values in the property pane without customizing the property pane layout.

  1. Select objects in the model.

    Property pane shows all the properties and UDAs for which you or someone else has entered a value. Properties and UDAs which do not have a value are hidden.

    UDAs that are not included in your current property pane layout but which have a value are listed in the Additional matches property group.

  2. Modify the property values as needed.

  3. If you want to enter a value to an empty property, use the search to temporarily show the needed properties, or select the Show properties based on visibility settings option.

The Show properties that have a value option is common for all object types. For example, if you select a steel beam in the model and use the Show properties that have a value option, and then select a concrete beam in the model, only those properties that have a value are shown for the concrete beam as well.

Show properties based on visibility settings

Select which property groups are visible and which are hidden. You can show and hide property groups by clicking the property group names. The eye symbols indicate which property groups are visible and which are hidden. You can show and hide only the main level property groups, not nested groups.

  1. Select objects in the model.

    Property pane shows all the property groups which are visible in the property pane.

    Property groups with theicon are visible. Property groups with theicon are hidden.

  2. Modify the property values as needed.

  3. If you want to make a hidden property group visible, click the eye icon again.

The Show properties based on visibility settings option is common for all object types. If different object types have property groups of the same name, the visibility of a property group is adjusted for all the object types. For example, if you select a steel beam and hide the Position property group, and then select a concrete beam, the Position property group is hidden for the concrete beam as well.

To easily define the default visibility of property groups, use the Property pane editor. Note that the changes in the visibility settings in the property pane override the default settings defined in the Property pane editor.

Customize...

Use to open the Property pane editor and customize the property pane layout

Updates in the Property pane editor

Set property groups hidden or visible

You can define whether the property groups in the property pane are visible or hidden by default.

For example, if you are an administrator, you can create property groups for different user-defined attributes (UDAs) in the Property pane editor , and then set the default visibility for each of the property groups.

  1. In the property pane layout on the right, select the property groups you want to hide.

  2. Right-click and select Hide by default.

    The eye symbol changes to hidden:. The selected property groups are now by default hidden in the property pane.

  3. To have the property groups again by default visible in the property pane, right-click and select Show by default.

    The eye symbol changes to visible:. The selected property groups are now by default visible in the property pane.

Note that visibility changes in the property pane override the default settings defined in the Property pane editor.

Copy multiple property groups

In the Property pane editor , you can now select multiple property groups to be copied.

  1. In the property pane layout on the right, select the property groups to be copied.

  2. Right-click and select Copy properties , or click.

    The copied property groups and the nested groups inside the property groups are shown in the middle column. The copied property groups are expanded and the content of the groups is shown.

  3. Add the copied properties to a property pane layout by dragging the Copied properties box from the middle column to the property pane layout on the right.

    All the copied property groups are added to the property pane layout as they are. Previously, the copied properties were nested inside a Copied properties container.

Additionally, when you add copied properties to the property pane layout and the property group would be empty as a result of duplicate or incompatible properties, the group is not created at all. Previously, an empty Copied properties container was created without any properties.

Improved search in the property pane

Search in the property pane has been improved. Now the search finds all the properties and user-define attributes (UDAs) that are available for the object type.

If you have several object types selected in the model, the search finds properties that are common to all the selected object types. UDAs that match to the search criteria are shown even if they have not been added to the property pane layout. This means that you can view and modify the UDA values in the property pane without customizing the property pane layout.

Properties and UDAs that are not included in your current property pane layout are listed in the Additional matches property group.

Note that the search results may vary depending on the environment you are using. Different environments can have different sets of properties available.

Additionally, if you enter a single asterisk * in the search box, all properties and UDAs available for the selected object type are shown. You can then easily enter a value for a property or for an UDA, even if the property or the UDA is not visible in the property pane by default.

Improvements in copying of properties

You can now press Enter to finish the copying of properties instead of clicking the Modify button.

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